The Last Legendary System

Weren’t those birds buried with Hell Rain?!

Benign thought fast. He lowered his gaze to his empty hands. He didn’t have a weapon to strike them from that far away.

His only skill, Hell Rain, would affect his comrades.

Those bird-like creatures had been burnt with Hell Rain on the battlefield.

If they were living, by whatever necromancy conspiracy, they were here for their revenge. On him. And possibly on the elves.

As he expected, when he looked back at the elves, they had already covered the distance.

Benign took a step back, wondering how Hell Rain destroyed the ground and refined sand to glass, but those creatures were able to revive.

"They were burnt to ashes." He murmured. "What fucking creature survives being burnt to ashes..."

His eyes widened at the realization. "Fucking phoenixes."

In fantasy books, those creatures typically resurrect specifically when burnt. "I should’ve buried them."

He started a sprint in the opposite direction from where the elves went. "But I listened to that robotic shit and burned them instead. Now this happened."

[Excuse me? Language.]

"Fuck you! And I’m not in the mood to talk to you right now, so get lost!" He looked back again.

The elves were rushing back to him, but the birds were already ahead of them— chasing after Benign.

"I don’t have to drag them into more problems." He rolled down the sand hill to save time.

At the bottom, he staggered to his feet and continued running. The flapping of wings got louder. He pulled his revolver from his waist.

"I should just take my chance—"

SCREECH.

The loud screech from the birds jolted him as they signaled they were closing in on him, particularly.

"Shit! Shit! Shit!"

In one swoop, one grabbed him by the bag and flew into the air. The creature flew above the sand hills and covered the ground fast.

His legs flailed in the air, desperately looking for footing. He gripped his hand on his weapon and pointed the muzzle upwards.

[You kill it. It drops you. You die.]

He didn’t pull the trigger. The bird dove back to the ground. "I’m dying either way!"

Amidst his confusion, Benign sighted a cave that looked familiar to the ones Vergil had shown him in his scrolls.

The bird swerved towards it, rushing down with a falling velocity. ’Will I be dying again?’

He felt less conflicted about going again since the elves were out of harm’s way.

An arrow shot above him. He heard the bird’s pained cry before shaking its catch. Benign looked down and found Stun shooting from below.

"No, run away. Run away—"

He got dropped.

Many feet away from the ground.

"Wait, wait!" His screams filled the air. "Why the fuck... isn’t a new mission... popping yet? You said if something... is after my life that... arghhh!"

[Are they after your life?]

Lego’s calmness contrasted with his state of mind. Within a second, Benign had flashes of being dropped out of a plane back in the middle of the sea during training.

Except he had a parachute, and he knew how to swim. The ocean of sand rushed upwards, and his breathing seized. His heart sank into his stomach. ’I hate this life.’

SCREECH

Another bird caught him by the shoulders. Being less than three feet from the ground, he was gently lowered till his feet touched sand.

His legs felt weak. He knelt on the ground, breathing heavily, trying not to throw up. His fingers dug a handful of sand that felt like the most precious thing.

He snapped his head towards the creature that caught him. Were they playing with him before eating him whole? He forced his body to calm down.

’I still have a gun.’ He kept it behind him. ’I still have a chance at this shitty life.’

The bird didn’t move. It stood there, twisting its head at different angles, watching Benign’s movement. Then it lifted its head, staring at something behind it.

Benign, kneeling on one side with his revolver ready, steadily turned his neck to the side. He lowered the gun. The cave sat behind him.

He turned to the creature as many more descended in front of him. They stood four feet tall, with dull red feathers, eagle heads, and ostrich-like bodies balanced on powerful bent legs. Their folded wings were far too large for their size, built for soaring rather than short bursts of flight. One bleeding with Stun’s arrow lodged at its right foot.

His eyes swept over them, counting. "Twenty. A unit."

[How interesting that those were your first thoughts.]

"Why aren’t they trying to kill me—" He bit his tongue from speaking too quickly while his body was still tense.

He took a deep breath. The creatures still watched him with strict attention, tilting their necks left to right. His expression straightened as he lifted himself off the ground.

"Thank you for the assistance, Phoenix Unit." He cleared his throat. " Can I ask why you assisted me even after I... you know... burned you...?"

He looked the one in front in the eye, hoping he didn’t look stupid asking an animal a question.

[You look stupid trying to interact with an animal, Host.]

[Language comprehension doesn’t work on animals.]

The soldier’s eye twitched. He raised his gun, having another stupid thought. "Will you die as well if I blast my head off?"

[...]

In that moment, one of the creatures lowered its head. It was the very one that dropped him to the ground.

The rest followed suit. Benign marked the first as the leader mentally but kept watching them.

[Unexpected Mission Alert!]

The soldier tensed. His last mission wasn’t completed. "What triggered this? It isn’t after my life."

[Mission: Tame the Firewings Tribe.]

"Oh."

He remembered the other requirement being a need for an ally.

[Rewards]

[1. Instant mind-link to the Firewings.]

[2. Hell Rain upgrades to level two.]

[3. MP +100]

Benign’s brows raised. His eyes remained on the first line. Taming. So they were actually allies?

He hummed, strolling towards the birds. His head was down. "Let me get this straight."

He pointed at the one bleeding. "You came to me because I resurrected you...? That’s right, you helped me because you were grateful."

He nodded once and exhaled deeply. "And that was how to go about it? By swooping me off the ground and sending me..." He pointed upwards. "...that high?!"

The bleeding one tilted its neck upwards.

Then it chirped. A very pleased chirp.